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Nürburgring 2014
The ' '''was the seventh round of the 2014 DTM Championship, held at the in Nurburg, Germany. The Championship battle could have been all but sealed by Marco Wittmann, who could potentially have left the Nurburgring with a 64 point advantage over , with 75 still left to play for. The German suceeded in taking his fourth win of the season and getting his advantage to 64 points, after Ekstrom retired in the opening stages of the race. Joining Wittmann on the podium were Mike Rockenfeller and Edoardo Mortara, as Paul di Resta finished fourth to be the best of the Mercedes cars. Background Ahead of the annual visit to Nurburg all of the attention was on Marco Wittmann, who came to the infamous with a 39 point lead. Although 100 points remained on the table ahead of the weekend in Nurburg, few thought that the German could be defeated before the end of the season, with the BMWs thought to be in with another strong result. led the counter charge from second, yet he seemed more likely to have to defend second from Bruno Spengler and Edoardo Mortara, while Christian Vietoris fell to eighth as the best placed Mercedes. BMW Team RMG continued to stretch their legs at the head of the Teams' Championship in Austria, now holding a 46 point lead over Abt Sportsline. The second Abt entry sat in third ahead of the second Bavarian outfit in BMW Team Schnitzer. Team Phoenix came to their home circuit in fifth, leading the first Mercedes backed team in HWA, as the Stuttgarters fell ever behind in the Brands' Championship. BMW led that battle, having overtaken Audi in Austria. Entries Below is the entry list for the : Qualifying Championship leader Marco Wittmann enjoyed another successful Saturday as he claimed pole position, and the fastest lap of the entire session, to give himself the strongest possible chance of victory.'POLE POSITION FOR MARCO WITTMANN AT NÜRBURGRING', ''dtm.com, (ITR e.V., 16/08/2015), http://www.dtm.com/en/news/pole-position-marco-wittmann-n-rburgring-2014-08-16.html, (Accessed 11/10/2015) Having topped the times in every session, he also benefitted from the fact that nearest rival failed to make it through the first session, and would start from 22nd. Joining the German on the front row would be Edoardo Mortara, who led a strong charge by Audi despite the absence of their talisman. Wittmann, as it turned out, was the only Bavarian backed driver in the entire Q3 session, with the next highest placed Beemer in twelfth. Mike Rockenfeller, Jamie Green, Timo Scheider and Miguel Molina secured the rest of the top six, ahead of the first Mercedes driver in Daniel Juncadella. Scot Paul di Resta completed the Q3 runners, with Christian Vietoris missing out on the session by just one thousandth of a second. Preventing Ekstrom from starting last was Gary Paffett, who was unable to set a time without any issues as his poor season continued. Vitaly Petrov continued his run of falling at the first hurdle by claiming 21st, while Joey Hand and rookie missed out by just fractions of a second. Post-Qualifying The results of qualifying for race two are shown below. Race The seventh race of the season was held in dry conditions, although the temperatures were a little lower than at the end of qualifying.'MARCO WITTMANN SCORES FOURTH SEASON WIN AT THE NÜRBURGRING', dtm.com, (ITR e.V., 17/08/2014), http://www.dtm.com/en/news/marco-wittmann-scores-fourth-season-win-n-rburgring-2014-08-17.html, (Accessed 11/10/2015) However, as the start time approached, clouds drifted over the circuit, prompting the DMSB, under the advice of radar reports, to abandon the pit window. That said, drivers would still have to make a mandatory pitstop, and the 50% limit to the soft tyres still applied.'THESE ARE THE TYRES FOR THE START OF THE RACE', dtm.com, (ITR e.V., 17/08/2014), http://www.dtm.com/en/news/these-are-tyres-start-race-2014-08-16.html, (Accessed 11/10/2015) Report Marco Wittmann shot off the line to take the lead from pole, with Mike Rockenfeller also hooking up a good start to hold second. Backwards went Jamie Green and Miguel Molina, both making poor starts to drop down the order, with Molina ultimately pitting for a new steering wheel at the end of the lap. With no major issues or collisions down the order, the order remained stable in the opening stages, as Wittmann romped away to set the fastest lap of the race on lap two. There was drama at the back of the field as pitted with an issue, later revealed to be suspension damage after contact. The Swede was released back into the race after an initial inspection, although, as Wittmann completed another hot lap to pull ever further ahead, Ekstrom's race, and title ambitions, came to an end. Timo Scheider, meanwhile, was falling out of the lead pack, losing ground to the soft shod cars from the first lap, but remained the highest placed "prime" car. DRS became active on lap four as Molina limped back to the pits to retire. Wittmann continued to pull ahead of the field at the front, while Vitaly Petrov spun all on his own ahead of Timo Glock and Gary Paffett swapped places, the latter having to surrender the position after an illegal manouevre. Timo Scheider, in the mean time, was continuing his rear guard action at the back of the top ten, the latest to try his hand at passing. Robert Wickens, however, proved to be the decisive factor, as the Canadian came steaming into the battle, collected Scheider, and put the German out. Muller also suffered from the incident, retiring with damage after Scheider slid into him, while Wickens escaped without punishment. The BMWs, meanwhile, were scrapping in the midfield, Maxime Martin slinging past Augusto Farfus into the chicane for sixth, as Wittmann held his lead at two seconds. Moments later and Farfus had Jamie Green glued to his rear, the Brit having misjudged the braking into the first hairpin, before pushing the Brazilian through the Mercedes Arena. The incident between them immediately went to the stewards, with Farfus spinning after the contact while Green continued unimpeeded. Paul di Resta and Daniel Juncadella swapped places for fourth and fifth, as Green and Farfus were told to report to the stewards after the race. The next laps saw di Resta begin his assault on the podium places, taking on Edoardo Mortara through the Arena as the first of the compulsory stops were made. Vitaly Petrov was enjoying his best race of the season, taking Martin Tomczyk for ninth before his stop, while the order remained jumbled as cars trickled into the pits. Joey Hand, meanwhile, was put under investigation after his stop, having been released into the path of in the pitlane. Da Costa was also placed into the books of the stewards after his stop for a possible infringement as the final cars made their stops on lap 32. The advantage of the soft starters had been such that by the time they stopped the hopes of those who opted for the harder tyre had all but vanished. That said, the temperature was falling, highlighted by Wittmann, who made his first mistake of the race by running wide at the chicane. Rockenfeller was slowly catching him, as the darkening skies finally broke to drop light rain over the circuit for the final ten laps. Paffett battled with Glock for sixteenth as Green put up a strong defence against Tomczyk, who seemed to be the only man on a late charge. The German snatched eighth from the Brit, with the orange Audi suddenly faltering, falling to Pascal Wehrlein, Wickens and Tambay before the end of the next lap. Meanwhile, at the front, Rocky broke the two second barrier to Wittmann on the penultimate lap, meaning he could use DRS against him. Unfortunately for the defending Champion, time was against him, and as Green fell a further three places, Wittmann crossed the line to take his fourth win of the season and all but secure his crown. Behind Rockenfeller was Mortara, whom managed to sustain a strong defence to deny Paul di Resta the first podium of his return. There was also big news for , as Daniel Juncadella secured fifth to score their first points of the season. Results The second race final result is displayed below: * Indicates a driver started on the soft or "option" tyre. Indicates a driver started on the hard or "prime" tyre. Milestones * Standings Victory for Marco Wittmann meant he had all but secured the title at the Eifel circuit, leading by 64 points, with only 75 available until the end of the season. Edoardo Mortara levelled Ekstrom's score on 56, with Mike Rockenfeller climbing to fourth and maintaining a mathematical chance of retaining his title. Bruno Spengler was the first of those officially out of the title fight in fifth, ahead of the first Mercedes backed driver in Christian Vietoris. Like their driver Wittmann, BMW Team RMG pulled a significant lead in the Teams' Championship at the , now leading by 67 points. Abt Sportsline retained their 10 point advantage over their sister team Team Abt, while Team Phoenix climbed to fifth. Team HWA remained the best placed Mercedes team down in sixth, while secured their first points of the season to get on the board. BMW, meanwhile, built a small lead over Audi in the Brands' Championship, with Mercedes finally breaking the 100 point barrier. Only point scoring drivers and teams are shown. References Videos and Images: * References: Category:Nürburgring Category:2014 Races Category:Races